


Faulty Rigs

by orphan_account



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Embarassment, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Medical Examination, Medical Procedures, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-25 23:49:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20732747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: He was used to struggling, but this time he just couldn't seem to get the trigger unstuck. He'd started to panic, the tree in front of him was getting closer and closer but his anchor trigger wasn't budging.





	Faulty Rigs

Armin struggled with the triggers of his gear. He knew that the training corps tended to give the trainees with less talent the older, rusty gear. It made sense of course, he wouldn't want a brand new, perfectly working set of ODM gear to be wasted on him. Which is why Mikasa got the fastest and most efficient gear, whilst Armin was stuck with the rig that was older than him, and was probably collected from a corpse. 

He was used to struggling, but this time he just couldn't seem to get the trigger unstuck. He'd started to panic, the tree in front of him was getting closer and closer but his anchor trigger wasn't budging. Armin let go of his swords and pulled his arms over his head, bracing himself for the impact. The last thing he felt was a crushing pain in his left rib, and he fell. His body smacking against the branches as he descended, and he fell into unconsciousness.

When he came to he could barely see or hear anything. That was until he became fully conscious. He felt a surging pain all over his body and squealed out.

"Ah, he's awake!" Mikasa's voice? Armin could only hope. "Armin, I'm here, you're alright." His eyes desperately darted around the room in terrified panic. He felt a pinch in his arm and the pain began to die down. Armin tried to voice his fears but the words wouldn't come out. Had he been injected with something? Where was he? He couldn't yet make out what was going on. 

Eventually the pain had been lifted enough for him to be able to think and look around. 

He was in the infirmary. His body laid flat on a table. The boy assumed that he had hit his head because he couldn't remember a thing. Armin was able to confirm now that the voice that was attempting to soothe him earlier was Mikasa, with what looked to be a doctor beside her, who was checking his vitals. As panicked and unresponsive as he was, knowing she was there gave him comfort.

Armin felt the buttons of his shirt come undone. He let out a moan in protest. He couldn't be without his clothes in front of others. The blond valued his modesty far too much for that. The way his waist and hips resembled that of a girl, the lack of muscle he had. Even when he was severely wounded, he could never allow something so embarrassing.

"Armin." It was Mikasa. The sound of her voice aided in calming his timidness, but he was still too shaken up to be able to relax. "The doctor needs to take a look at you." She gently took his shaking hand in hers. "You need to let her do what she has to."

As much as the smaller boy didn't like it, he swallowed his pride and allowed the doctor to remove his shirt. 'You can do it. For Mikasa.' He told himself. 

"That's good, close your eyes and relax." If there was anyone who could help settle Armin's nerves, it was Mikasa. He trusted her, as terrified as he was. Armin could feel her begin to stroke his forehead gently and soothingly. Mikasa's face twisted in sympathy for the boy when the doctor pulled open Armin's shirt enough to reveal horrible bruising on the left side of his chest, along with countless minor abrasions.

Armin's fear was finally starting to subside when he felt cold fingertips on the waistband of his pants. His eyes darted open and he instinctively pulled away from the intruding hands. No. No way. Armin didn't care how hurt he was. He wasn't about to allow anyone, medical professional or not, to uncover his most private areas. 

The boy spoke up for the first time since he'd woken, but could only manage a single word. 

"N-No." He forced the word out. Mikasa turned to look at him with sorry eyes, her hands still holding onto his tightly. 

"Armin.." She uttered quietly, her voice gentle. Though he felt guilty about it, he ignored her and reached down to cover his lower half with the blanket, but the pain in his body flashed violently and he let out a disgruntled cry.

Mikasa put a hand on his shoulder and returned him to a laying position. "Hey, Ar, look at me."

Armin opened his eyes to look as the excruciating aching of his chest began to fade. "You can't see it, but there's blood on your pants. You're injured, and we need to treat your injuries." Her logic was near impossible to argue with. "I'll be right here the whole time, no one is going to hurt you."

The boy trusted in her promise and choked back his tears, allowing the doctor to remove his pants. He could feel his face flush red as he heard his torn clothes be tossed across the room, leaving him almost completely naked and in the view of his long time friend, and a complete stranger.

He tried to relax himself and imagine he was somewhere else, but those imagines were soon interrupted when he felt steady hands press down around a gash on his hip. His boxers had been torn along with his skin, and he was bleeding rather heavily. 

The slice in his flesh was too large to warrant simple bandaging, it started at his hip and ended at the top of his thigh. The wound was covered in a mixture of dirt and Armin's own blood.

"Armin, I'm going to remove your underwear, okay?" That was the first time the doctor had spoken to him. She probably assumed it would be better to warn Armin before attempting to remove any other articles of his clothing, considering the reaction she got the first two times. 

Armin's cheeks burned a brighter red at that sentence. He couldn't. No way. Mikasa was able to coax him into taking off his shirt and even his pants, but there was no way he could lay completely naked whilst the doctor patched him up. Down there and back there, completely on show, just thinking about it made tears form in the boy's ocean blue eyes.

"W-Why?" He asked reluctantly, as Mikasa wiped the tears from his eyes with her thumb. 

"They're obstructing the wound, I need to have the area bare if I'm going to treat it." Armin took in a shallow breath.

"I-I... can bandage it myself... later.." He was breathless as he spoke, the blood loss mixed with the high dosages of painkillers were making him drowsy, but he was doing everything he could to stay conscious.

"No, you can't. It needs to be stitched." Armin could tell that the doctor was starting to get impatient. 

Mikasa brought her hand away from Armin's, and stood up to fetch the blanket and pull it over his hips. The boy thought that maybe Mikasa was taking his side, and that she wasn't going to make him undress any further. He laid his head back in relief for a moment until she spoke up again.

"Can you give us a minute?" She requested. "He's a little shaken up, I'll talk to him.."

The doctor nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her. 

"Armin." She spoke gently. "It's just me now, so let me get these off you.." Mikasa was referring to his underwear, he knew that. 

He didn't know what else he could do other than lay back and try to relax as Mikasa reached under the blanket and tugged off his boxers. He was sure that he was going to drown in the embarrassment he felt. 

Armin let out a loud groan in pain when she lifted his hips and turned him onto his right side, the blanket that was covering him was completely gone. 'Please.' He thought, but couldn't voice it. 'Don't call her back in here when I'm like this.'

To Armin's relief, Mikasa readjusted the blanket and laid it to cover his genitals, and he was thankful for that. Still, his left hip with the wound was completely exposed, along with his backside. 

He sunk his head into the pillow and clutched the fabric of it weakly, but as tight as he could. The blond heard his friend call the doctor back in and winced when he heard the door open and close. 

Armin was on his side, the doctor completely out of his line of sight. It made him so unnerved, he hated it. He let out an embarrassing squeak of surprise when he felt her hands on his hip again. 

He could feel the needle and thread weaving in and out of his skin, but the pain he would have felt was barely there. 

Despite the fact he was half asleep, the procedure itself felt like it lasted forever. It was only when he felt his legs being lifted up and a bandage being wrapped around his hips and thigh that he realised it was over.

He felt unusually drowsy, had he been given another dose of morphine? Or maybe it was because he had been trying to keep himself awake the whole time and was finally drifting off? Armin heard the click of the door as the doctor left and felt Mikasa pull the blanket over his shoulders, finally giving him his privacy. 

Armin felt Mikasa’s hands on his hair as he drifted back to sleep.


End file.
